Venice Biennale + rapid virus tests + MIT summer reading

MIT Weekly July 10, 2021 Greetings! The MIT Weekly is on summer hours through August and will be on hiatus next week, returning July 24. Want a daily dose of MIT in your inbox? [Subscribe to the MIT Daily](. Meeting the Moment # The [2021 Venice Biennale]( curated by [Hashim Sarkis]( dean of the MIT School of Architecture and Planning, asks how we can best live together in a time of uncertainty and crisis. “Every generation asks this question, and every generation deserves to come up with its unique answers,” he says. [Full story via MIT News →]( Top Headlines SMART researchers develop a method for rapid, accurate virus detection Four times faster than conventional PCR methods, new RADICA approach is highly specific, sensitive, and resistant to inhibitors. [Full story via MIT News →]( [MIT Heat Island]( Physicists observationally confirm Hawking’s black hole theorem for the first time A new study offers evidence, based on gravitational waves, showing that the total area of a black hole’s event horizon can never decrease. [Full story via MIT News →]( [MIT Heat Island]( Designing exploratory robots that collect data for marine scientists “This is a really exciting time to be a roboticist who also cares about the environment,” says PhD student Victoria Preston. [Full story via MIT News →]( [MIT Heat Island]( Engineered yeast could expand biofuels’ reach By making the microbes more tolerant to toxic byproducts, researchers show they can use a wider range of feedstocks, beyond corn. [Full story via MIT News →]( [MIT Heat Island]( The woman who brought us the world Virginia Tower Norwood ’47 invented the first multispectral scanner to image Earth from space. Landsat 1 and its successors have been scanning the planet ever since. [Full story via MIT Technology Review→]( [MIT Heat Island]( #ThisisMIT # [Follow @mitblackhistory on Instagram→]( In the Media Meet some of the world’s most influential women engineers // Forbes Professor Dina Katabi, Institute Professor Barbara Liskov, Professor Dava Newman, Professor Daniela Rus, and a number of MIT alumnae and MIT Corporation members have been named to the Academic Influence list of 35 highly influential engineers who are women. [Full story via Forbes→]( It’s a quirky, historic hobby for the bellringers still pulling the ropes at Old North Church // WBUR Every weekend, members of the MIT Guild of Bellringers bring to life the bells at Boston’s Old North Church. Group leader John Bihn notes: “It is really exciting thinking that I’m ringing the same bells that nearly 300 years ago Paul Revere was ringing.” [Full story via WBUR→]( The down-to-Earth applications of space // Bloomberg TV Assistant Professor Danielle Wood, who was recently named to Bloomberg’s list of catalysts who are inspiring new ideas, discusses her work focused on using space technologies as a way to advance the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. [Full story via Bloomberg TV→]( A robot that finds your lost stuff // The Wall Street Journal MIT researchers have developed a robot that can help locate hidden items using AI and wireless technologies. “In the future, this home helper could ... retrieve a specific wrench or screwdriver from a toolbox and assist a human in assembling a piece of furniture.” [Full story via The Wall Street Journal→]( Summer Reading # As we enter the heart of summer, many of us will find ourselves with added time for relaxation and deep reading. MIT News has compiled a selection of recent titles from Institute faculty and staff. Happy reading! [Full list via MIT News→]( Watch This # MIT recently held an Institute-wide athletic competition — the first-ever MIT Dorm Olympics. Following January’s COVID Hack, during which students brainstormed ideas for improving the spring semester in pandemic times, a group of undergraduates were inspired to put their Covid-safe spin on field day and show some dorm pride in the process. What resulted was a spectacular day of relay races, bean-bag tosses, tug of war, ring tosses, and more. [Watch the video]( | [Learn more via MIT News]( This edition of the MIT Weekly was brought to you by [a well-worn old-timey passport](. 🚢 Have feedback to share? Email mitdailyeditor@mit.edu. Thanks for reading, and have a great week! —MIT News Office [Forward This Email]( [Subscribe]( [MIT Logo] Massachusetts Institute of Technology This email was sent to {EMAIL} because of your affiliation with MIT, or because you signed up for our newsletters. [subscribe]( [update preferences]( [unsubscribe]( [view in browser]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Youtube]( [Instagram]( MIT News Office · 77 Massachusetts Avenue · Cambridge, MA 02139 · USA